Re-envision Investment: Water or Gold?

South Africa has GOLD, but no WATER.

Crisis has already hit Cape Town, South Africa, which neared its day zero in 2018 because they had no water. On the flip side, with Gold blooming during COVID-19 and trading at $1,820 per ounce amidst the pandemic, is it becoming a safety valve for investment? With World Bank estimating that delivery of UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030 requires over $100bn of additional capex globally every year, can we anticipate investing in ‘White Gold rather than Yellow’? The choice is yours!

‘WATER has emerged as the new OIL’ and threatened socio-economic gains and has raised a potent fuel for wars and conflict with changing geo-political situation beyond national borders. Water scarcity is one of the largest global risks over the next decade, according to the World Economic Forum. It is seen that Tanzania’s mining sector has contributed over 15% over 3 months and investors are increasingly looking at gold as an important investment while on the contrary, Senegal’s capital Dakar is on the cusp of facing one of the worst water shortage.It is still perceived that gold, not water is a significant investment to act as a valuable asset for their future. Moreover, global water shortage has led to cascading set of consequences, including impaired food production, the loss of livelihood security, large-scale migration and increased economic and geopolitical tensions. This is disastrous for us and such scenario emboldens us to stay on course more than ever.It is often thought as ‘if there is life, a world exists’ but in contemporary times, the reverse altogether holds true. There is a need to remind people that water is poised to spearhead a much biggest liquidity investment than gold, touching a way of life.

With UNEA 5 calling for “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the SDGs” for the year 2020, our efforts towards incorporating nature based solutions towards water conservation gets multiplied. India has been one of the early countries to invest in rain water harvesting seen through Johads and Baolis in Rajasthan or Eri tank systems in South India, which is still widely used for water conservation. Government of India has re-focused on reviving such pratices under ‘Catch the Rains’ initiatives through creation of Rain Water Harvesting, Artificial Recharge and Rain centres. Contributing in the capacity of member, ‘National Wetland Committee’, MoEF&CC, GoI, the need for an “integrated approach”, enumerating the wetlands in land records and preventing encroachment of the wetlands has been incorporated in Guidelines for implementing Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017. Such best management practices and schemes have ensured conservation of water and sustainability of our eco-systems which is perhaps the most significant investments in water.

We need more debate and discussion in investing in white gold and how we can collectively respond to the water crisis effectively and put us back on track to achieve the SDGs during our last decade of action. Can the pandemic re-envisage our thinking towards sustaining the water ecosystems towards Build Back Better?

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#BuildBackBetter #Wetlands #Ecosystems #NationalWetlandCommittee #WaterCrisis #CatchtheRain #Rainwaterharvesting #Raincentres #SDG6 #UNEA5 #Dakar #WaterConservation #ArtificialRecharge